In the cooling of a vehicle transmission and especially in the cooling of an auxiliary retarding braking system, such as a hydrodynamic retarder, for example, or an intarder that is integrated into the transmission housing, the heat that is generated during the braking process must be drawn off. At this time, heat exchangers that release the heat generated in the retarder into the environment are still being used. Integrating the retarder into the vehicle cooling system has also already been considered. The heat exchanger can thereby be arranged in a separate component on the transmission, or may be integrated into the transmission housing, installed in the tube in the housing, or the housing can be designed to have multiple walls. From DE 196 25 357 a heat exchanger that is integrated into a transmission housing is known; however, it is not connected to the vehicle cooling circuit. If the cooling of the transmission or the retarder is to be integrated into the cooling circuit of the vehicle, there must be a connection between the transmission and the engine. In current systems, the two cooling systems normally are separate.
The object of the invention is to disclose a connection between the cooling system of a transmission or retarder and the vehicle.